Not so smart bombs

[MTAtech]

Another military lie. They said they were using precision bombs in civilian areas. Now, Central Command reluctantly admits they used cluster bombs in civilian areas. Cluster bombs have a 25% failure rate – meaning that a quarter of them don’t go off right away. So, when people start digging through the rubble and kids find them, they go off.

I’m also upset that it took investigative reporting to uncover the fact that we were using cluster bombs. When was our government going to tell us this? If one listened to the Pentagon propaganda and to the dribble on CNN and FOX, one would think that we are only using precision guided weapons.

Of course the nay-sayers are going to say ‘It’s Saddam’s fault because he put military facilities in civilian areas.’ Although it is true that Saddam put military facilities in civilian areas, it also means that our military made the conscious decision to disregard the cost of civilian casualties – primarily children, so as to meet a not so critical military objective. The alternative would have been just to advance slower or to only use more accurate weapons in these areas. We certainly have a right to question that calculation and decisions.

Take a look at the news article. It is shocking:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationwo...ws%2Dheadlines

[Epidemic]

Actually cluster bombs are not used in buildings!

But they are a problem, not nearly on a par with former wars nor other nations current arsenel.

Put it in perspective a bit. War is ugly but this has been one of the cleanest wars ever prosecuted. I doubt if as few civillians got killed even in the revolutionary war with battles fought in a gentlemens war.

[FTM]

Someone decided that hitting them hard and fast was the best strategy, and armchair generals will aways scrutinize the strategy.... with the benefit of hind-site of course.

The bottom line here is that the campaign has been hugely successful when viewed in it's entirety. Misfires, missed targets, and even mis-judgements are all a part of war.... that's never going to change.

What I see being suggested by this thread is that the relativly small percentage of incidents that did not turn out as well as expected are proof that the war is not worth the price... I would strongly disagree with that accessment.

[J-Excel]

They should have proceeded more slowly? MTAtech, you don't think that would have resulted in a lot more carnage? If anything they should have went faster. They should have just rolled straight into Baghdad and toppled the big Saddam statue. Checkmate. Not a very good assessment General MTAtech.

EDIT: BTW, I like your avatar. The decent do protect democracy, even for the dissenters.

[Epidemic]

I think we did a decent job of fighing this war.

No decent is not the proper word, historic, glorious, militarily perfect, tremendous, and amazing.

History has never seen such a large scale conflict waged as flawlessly as this.

The peoples reception is way beyond my wildest dreams, and the collateral damage is way lower than I would have dreamed.

Friendly fire incidents were minimal considering the scope and scale of operations (probably still use some work on the IFF system though)

To say otherwise is to ignore the facts, history has never seen anything like it.

[EndobioticChaos]

Wow. Another yank at the ol' heartstrings. What a surprise.

[Bushmaster]

What do you want ?. Ethical War. No such friggin thing.
Oh my God, the attrocities. Gimmie a break. It's war, it sucks. People freak out when some journalists get clipped, but the bottom line is they are in a war zone. The great percentage of the journalists are there for capitalistic reasons. They wanna sell the dirty laundry that everybody loves and make money and become famous.
If I had notice that the Iraqi forces were going to invade the county I live in I'd pack my 7 year old daughter and myself up and get the frig out.
Saddam and his regime were heading in a direction that was going to put a hell of alot more lives in jeapordy. He was also involved in the financing and training of terrorist organizations.
Yah and I know the U.S. has done it as well. But it's war. Get over it. What do you want, we should graciously ask that Saddam and his thugs just step down ?. Oh I know, we'll set-up trade embargo's against Iraq. Oooh ooh I know, we can develop smart technology suppositories that will magically fly up the bungholes of Saddam and his minion and release large doses of haldol so their too zombified to do any damage while we walk on in and put them in straight jackets.
Nothing is shocking anymore, and sticking daisys in the ends of assault rifles just don't work.

[ben-the-slacker]

They also still use depleted uranium, which causes cancers and other diseases.

[Epidemic]

Studies on that stuff is pretty thin. Gulf war friendly fire incidents where people breathed in aerosolized DU are still alive and kicking with thousands of times the exposure of a tank battle in the middle of the desert.

Of course the driver of the tank did experience fatal doses through the wall of his chest though.

[kenyg]

I thought the War made for pretty good TV - beat the heck outta those other so-called "reality" shows.